Surgical drape and system having a barrier for preventing the start of a surgical procedure and methods for using same

ABSTRACT

A surgical drape, system and method of using comprise a surgical drape having a fenestration to be placed over a surgical site of a patient. The surgical drape includes a barrier removably attached to the surgical drape and adapted for placement over a portion of the fenestration to prevent the start of the surgical procedure. Upon verification of a set of predetermined conditions, the barrier is removed by a member of the surgical staff in order to begin the surgical procedure.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY AND CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/985,076, which was filed on Jan. 5, 2011, as a divisional of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/008,818, which was filed on Jan. 14,2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,886,742, all of which are incorporated hereinby reference in their respective entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to surgical drapes. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to surgical drapes having abarrier across a portion of a fenestration of the surgical drape toprevent a surgical team from beginning a surgical procedure withoutperforming a verification of the correct person, procedure, site andside.

BACKGROUND

Healthcare facilities are increasingly concerned about the occurrence oferrors in surgical procedures involving operating on the wrong patient,on the wrong surgical site, on the wrong side of the patient and evenperforming the wrong surgical procedure. As a result, more attention isbeing turned to the activities of the surgeon and operating staff priorto performing the surgery. A “time out” or surgical pause is oftenrequired by healthcare facilities in an effort to reduce or eliminatethe occurrence of surgical errors. According to the “time out”procedure, a nurse or other operating staff member calls a “time out” inthe operating room to call attention to a final safety check in aneffort to ensure that the correct surgical procedure is going to beperformed on the correct patient, the correct site and the correct sideof the patient.

Some national organizations, such as The Joint Commission, have prepareda set of National Patient Safety Goals to promote specific improvementsin patient safety. Specifically, this group has developed “UniversalProtocols” for preventing wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong personsurgeries. However, such protocols are not always followed by hospitalstaff. Some surgeons and operating room staff resist the safety checksby performing only a portion of the protocol or ignoring the protocolcompletely.

Therefore, there exists a need to provide a physical barrier to preventthe start of a surgical procedure until a predetermined verificationprocedure is completed. The benefit of providing a physical barrier incombination with a verification procedure is to make certain that theoperation performed is correct. In addition to eliminating surgicalerrors, this also ensures that the operating team understands their roleand that the patient has been properly prepared for the operation.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a surgical drapesystem for use in a surgical procedure comprises a surgical drape havinga fenestration to be placed over a surgical site of a patient and abarrier removably attached to the surgical drape. The barrier is adaptedfor placement over a portion of the fenestration to prevent the start ofthe surgical procedure.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for using asurgical drape system comprises providing a surgical drape having afenestration to be placed over a surgical site on a patient. Thesurgical drape includes a barrier removably attached to the surgicaldrape and extending over a portion of the fenestration to prevent thestart of a surgical procedure. The method further comprises verifying aset of predetermined conditions prior to removing the barrier andremoving the barrier prior to beginning the surgical procedure.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a surgical drapefor use in a surgical procedure comprises a base having a top surfaceand a bottom surface, a fenestration located in a portion of the basefor placing over a surgical site and a barrier attached to the base. Thebarrier is placed over a portion of the fenestration to prevent thestart of the surgical procedure.

In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a surgical drapesystem for use in a surgical procedure comprises a surgical drape havinga fenestration to be placed over a surgical site of a patient, a barrierremovably connected to the surgical drape and adapted for placement overa portion of the fenestration to prevent the start of the surgicalprocedure. The system further comprises an item removably attached tothe barrier for displaying a predetermined verification procedure.

In a still further embodiment of the present disclosure, a method ofproviding a system for preventing surgical errors comprises the acts ofproviding a surgical drape having a fenestration adapted to be placedover a surgical site. The surgical drape includes a barrier across aportion of the fenestration to prevent the start of a surgicalprocedure. The method further comprises displaying a predeterminedverification procedure, including one or more conditions, associatedwith the barrier and confirming the one or more conditions of thepredetermined verification procedure.

In yet a further embodiment, a surgical drape system for use in asurgical procedure comprises a surgical drape for placement over apatient and at least one holder attached to the surgical drape. Theholder holds an item associated with a predetermined verificationprocedure.

In yet a further embodiment, a surgical drape system for use in asurgical procedure comprises a surgical drape having a fenestration forplacement over a patient and a fenestration cover for covering thefenestration. The fenestration cover is adapted to prevent the start ofthe surgical procedure.

The above summary of the present disclosure is not intended to representeach embodiment or every aspect of the present invention. The detaileddescription and Figures will describe many of the embodiments andaspects of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will become apparentupon reading the following detailed description and upon reference tothe drawings.

FIG. 1A is a top view of a surgical drape according to one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 1B is a front view of a fenestration of the surgical drape of FIG.1 having a barrier located across a portion of the fenestration.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the surgical drape of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a surgical drape positioned over apatient according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a surgical drape having holders according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a surgical drape having a fenestration coveraccording to a further embodiment.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. Itshould be understood, however, that the disclosure is not intended to belimited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the disclosure is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A illustrates a surgical drape 10 including a base sheet 12 havinga top surface 14 and a bottom surface 15 (see FIG. 2). The surgicaldrape 10 may include panels 16, 18. Panel 16 may be adapted for use as areinforcement panel that absorbs blood and fluid from a surgical site.Panel 18 may be adapted for use as an anti-skid mat to preventinstruments from sliding on the drape 10. The surgical drape 10 alsoincludes an opening or fenestration 20 for positioning over a surgicalsite. The fenestration 20 may be centrally located in the surgical drape10 or may be positioned at other non-central locations in the surgicaldrape 10. As shown in FIG. 1A, the fenestration 20 is rectangular, butmay include any other shapes that would be suitable for positioning overa surgical site. Also included on the surgical drape 10 may be one ormore holders 40 which are described in more detail below.

As shown in FIG. 1A, positioned across the fenestration 20 is a barrier24 for preventing the start of a surgical procedure. The barrier 24 mayinclude a strip of material that is attached to the surgical drape 10along a portion of the periphery of the fenestration 20. The barrier 24may be made of any type of material that may be attached to a surgicaldrape 10, such as paper, cloth, polymeric materials, wax-covered paper,combinations thereof and any other material that would be suitable forattaching to the surgical drape 10.

In one embodiment, the barrier 24 may be attached to the bottom surface15 of the surgical drape 10 shown in FIG. 2 via an adhesive materiallocated around the periphery of the fenestration 20. The barrier 24 maybe attached to the surgical drape 10 at two or more locations such thatthe barrier 24 is attached on one side of the fenestration 20 at a firstlocation and is also attached on another side of the fenestration 20 ata second location directly opposite the first location. It iscontemplated that the barrier 24 could be attached at other locationsaround the periphery of the fenestration 20. In the embodiments shown inFIGS. 1-3, the barrier 24 is attached at a first location on one side ofthe fenestration 20 and is attached at a second location on the oppositeside of the fenestration 20 to form a barrier that extends across thefenestration. In addition to adhesives, the barrier 24 may be attachedto the surgical drape 12 using hook and loop fasteners, e.g., Velcro®,string, loops, ties and other materials that would be suitable forattaching the barrier 24.

In some embodiments, attached to the adhesive material is one or moreattachment strips 25, as shown in FIG. 2, that are removed when thesurgical drape 10 is positioned on the patient. For a rectangularfenestration 24, the attachment strips 25 may be located on each side ofthe four sides of the fenestration 24. The barrier 24 may be attached tothe surgical drape 10 such that the attachment strips 25 cover oroverlay the portion of the barrier 24 that is attached to the surgicaldrape 10. In this scenario, the attachment strips 25 are attached to theadhesive material at locations other than where the barrier 24 isattached to the adhesive material.

As shown in FIGS. 1A through FIG. 3, the barrier 24 is positioned acrossthe fenestration 20 to prevent the start of a surgical procedure until apredetermined verification procedure is completed. The predeterminedverification procedure is designed to prevent the surgeon or othersurgical staff from performing surgery on the wrong patient, as well aspreventing them from performing the wrong surgical procedure, at thewrong surgical site or side of the patient. In effect, the surgeon andsurgical staff are forced to perform a pause or “time out” before thesurgical procedure begins. This pause allows the surgical staff toconfirm the correct surgical patient, surgical procedure, and surgicalsite and side.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the elements of a predetermined verificationprocedure 28 may be displayed on an indicator or item 30 that may beattached to the barrier 24. According to one example of a predeterminedverification procedure 28 shown on item 30 in FIG. 1B, the surgicalstaff is instructed to “STOP!! Perform ‘TIME OUT’ Verify Correct Person,Procedure, Site & Side.” Thus, the surgical staff must stop, verify thecorrect person (by, for example, confirming the patient's name and dateof birth), verify the correct procedure, verify the correct site andverify the correct side before the surgical procedure can begin. Byprominently displaying the predetermined verification procedure 28 onthe barrier 24, this ensures that the staff will not overlook theimportant steps that should be performed before the surgery begins.These steps will reduce the occurrences of “wrong patient,” “wrongprocedure,” “wrong site” and “wrong side” surgeries. Surgical staff,hospitals and patients will benefit by the reduction or elimination ofsuch occurrences.

The item 30 may contain a first area 32 for the surgical staff toindicate that each part of the verification procedure has been conductedby, for example, checking off a box for each part of the predeterminedverification procedure 28 that is verified, i.e., the “Person,” the“Procedure,” and the “Site & Side.” Additionally, the item 30 mayinclude a second area 34 on the item 30 where a member of the surgicalstaff, such as the surgeon, can sign or initial, date and indicate thetime that that the predetermined verification procedure 28 wasconducted. The item 30 may include any shape that may be positioned onthe barrier 24, such as an octagon as shown in FIG. 1B. The octagon maybe used to resemble a “STOP” sign and will caution the surgical staff topause before proceeding. Other shapes may include a circle, a square, adiamond, a triangle, a heart, a hexagon, a rectangle, an oval, apentagon, and any other shapes that would be suitable for positioning onthe barrier 24. The item 30 may also include a specific color, such asred, to draw the attention of the surgical staff to remind them of theneed to complete the predetermined verification procedure 28.

The item 30 may comprise a label, a decal, a sticker, a stamp, anembossment, a tattoo, an ink or screen printed article, any combinationsthereof and any other articles that have areas for displayinginformation to the surgical staff. The item 30 may be attachable to thebarrier 24 and may be removed from the barrier 24 upon completion of thepredetermined verification procedure 28. For example, the item 30 mayhave an adhesive material on one side of the decal, sticker, stamp, etc.that allows it to be removably attached to the barrier 24. Once removedfrom the barrier 28, the item 30 may be placed in the patient's medicalrecords. In other embodiments, the predetermined verification procedure28 may be printed or placed directly on the barrier 24 itself.

It is to be noted that the examples described herein and shown in FIG.1B include four different elements to be verified (i.e., the person, theprocedure, the site and the side); however, the predeterminedverification procedure 28 may contain only one of these elements, acombination of these elements or additional elements that may bedifferent from the elements shown in FIG. 1B. For example, thepredetermined verification procedure 28 may also include verifying otherelements, in addition to or as an alternative to those described above,such as verifying the correct position of the patient, the correctradiograph data (if needed), the availability of special equipment,implants and other requirements, any allergies the patient may have, anypre-operative antibiotics or medications that the patient is taking, anyblood products that may be needed for transfusions prior to the surgicalprocedure or intraoperatively, the location of the family while at thehospital for communication purposes, and other elements that arerelevant in a surgical setting.

After the predetermined verification procedure 28 is completed, and theitem 30 is removed from the barrier 24 by a member of the surgicalstaff, the barrier 24 may be removed from the surgical drape 10 by thesurgeon or other surgical staff member by tearing the barrier at one ormore perforations located on the barrier 24. For example, as shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B, a set of perforations 36 is located at the edges of thefenestration 20 where it meets the surgical drape 24 such that thesurgical staff can tear the barrier 24 relatively easily at both edgesand remove the barrier 24 from the surgical drape 10.

The base 12 of the surgical drape 10 may be comprised of variousmaterials such as polyethylene, polyester, cotton, paper, dexter,spunbond meltblown spunbond, microporous, foam, polypropylene, rayon,spunlace, trilaminate, bilaminate, combinations thereof and othersuitable materials. The panel 16 may comprise impervious reinforcementmaterial comprised of, for example, polypropylene. The panel 18 maycomprise materials such as polyethylene, polyester, cotton, paper,dexter, spunbond meltblown spunbond, microporous, foam, polypropylene,rayon, spunlace, trilaminate, bilaminate, combinations therof and othersuitable materials. All of the materials used to make the base 12, thepanels 16, 18, the barrier 24 and the item 30 must be sterilizable, suchthat the entire surgical drape 10 and barrier 24 may be used in asterile environment, such as a hospital operating room. Once thesurgical procedure is completed, the surgical drape 10 may be removedfrom the patient and discarded.

As discussed above, the barrier 24 prevents the start of a surgicalprocedure until the surgical staff performs the required “TIME-OUT” toverify the correct patient, the correct surgical procedure, the correctsite and the correct side. Once all of these elements have beenverified, the surgeon or other surgical staff member may remove thebarrier 24 to begin the surgical procedure. One example of apredetermined verification procedure 28 as a way of preventing surgicalerrors is that developed by The Joint Commission's 2008 National PatientSafety Goal's “Universal Protocol.” According to the Universal Protocol,a “time-out” is conducted in the location where the surgical procedurewill be performed, just before the procedure is to be started. The“time-out” may involve the entire surgical team, who must use activecommunication, and may be briefly documented, such as by using achecklist The Universal Protocol includes, at the least, verification ofthe correct patient identity, the correct side and site, an agreement onthe procedure to be done, the correct patient position and theavailability of correct implants and any special equipment or specialrequirements.

In other embodiments for providing a predetermined verificationprocedure prior to the start of a surgical procedure, a carrier paper124 may be attached to the drape via one or more holders 140 that areattached to the surgical drape 110, as shown in FIG. 4. The carrierpaper 124 may include an item 130 having a predetermined verificationprocedure removably attached thereto or printed thereon. The carrierpaper 124 may include paper, cloth, plastic, and other materials, i.e.,woven and nonwoven materials, and may include a hole for receiving theholder 140. This embodiment provides alternatives for drapes that maynot have a fenestration, such as an extremity or split drape.

The holders 140 may include hook and loop fasteners, e.g., Velcro®,strings, loops, ties, adhesives, or other suitable material. The holder140 may be placed through the hole in the carrier paper 124 and then theholder 140 may be “closed” via the fasteners described herein. Severalholders 140 may be attached at different locations on the surgical drape110 for holding the carrier paper 124 and the item 130. This particularembodiment provides a reminder to the surgical staff to perform theverification procedure and allows them to provide confirmation byproperly marking the item 130 and removing it for placement in thepatient's medical records.

Other types of holders that may be attached to a surgical drape may alsoprovide a means for attaching a carrier paper having an item with apredetermined verification procedure attached thereto or printedthereon. For example, line holders (not shown) that may be used to loopsuction tubing and cautery cords may at times be used to attach acarrier paper to the surgical drape. As with the carrier paper describedabove, the item having a predetermined verification procedure attachedthereto or printed thereon acts as a reminder to the surgical staff toperform the verification procedure prior to starting the surgicalprocedure.

Further embodiments of the present disclosure may include a fenestrationcover 250 for covering the fenestration 220 of the surgical drape 210,as shown in FIG. 5. The fenestration cover 250 may include a carrierpaper, cloth, plastic, and other materials, i.e., woven and nonwovenmaterials, that cover the fenestration 220 and may be removed fromcovering the fenestration 220 upon the completion of a predeterminedverification procedure. The fenestration cover 250 may be larger thanthe area of the fenestration 220 such that the fenestration cover 250covers the entire area of the fenestration 220. In other embodiments,the fenestration cover 250 may cover a portion of the fenestration 220.The fenestration cover 250 may be attached to the surgical drape 210according to the methods described herein or may overlay thefenestration 220 without being attached to the surgical drape 210.

As with the barrier 24 and carriers 124, 224 described with respect toFIGS. 1-4, the fenestration cover 250 may include an item 230 removablyattached to the fenestration cover 250. The item 230 may include alabel, a decal, a sticker, a stamp, an embossment, a tattoo, an ink orscreen printed article, any combinations thereof and any other suitablearticles that have areas for displaying information related to apredetermined verification procedure. In other embodiments, thefenestration cover 250 may include the predetermined verificationprocedure printed on the cover 250 itself. For example, the item 230 orcover 250 may include the word “STOP” to indicate that a time-out orpause should be taken so that the verification procedure may beperformed. As with the examples described herein, the item 230 or cover250 may list the elements of the predetermined verification procedurethat must be verified before the surgical procedure may begin.

While the present invention has been described with reference to one ormore particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognizethat many changes may be made thereto without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention. Each of these embodiments andobvious variations thereof is contemplated as falling within the spiritand scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A surgical drape system for use in a surgicalprocedure, the surgical drape system comprising: a surgical drapedefining a fenestration of a first size sufficient to surround at leasta portion of a surgical site; and a barrier of a second size larger thanthe first size, the barrier extending across and covering the entirefenestration to thereby prevent the start of the surgical procedureprior to removal of the barrier, the barrier overlaying the fenestrationwithout being attached to the surgical drape.
 2. The surgical drapesystem of claim 1, wherein the barrier overlays a portion of thesurgical drape thereby covering a perimeter of the fenestration.
 3. Thesurgical drape system of claim 1, wherein the barrier is fabricated frompaper, cloth, or woven materials, or any combination thereof.
 4. Thesurgical drape system of claim 1, further comprising at least one holderattached to the surgical drape, and an item held by the holder, the itembeing associated with a predetermined verification procedure.
 5. Thesurgical drape system of claim 4, wherein the predetermined verificationprocedure is printed on the item.
 6. The surgical drape system of claim4, wherein the item is removable from the at least one holder andconfigured to be placed in a patient medical record.
 7. The surgicaldrape system of claim 1, wherein the barrier is separated from thesurgical drape in accordance with a predetermined verificationprocedure.
 8. The surgical drape system of claim 7, wherein thepredetermined verification procedure includes confirmation of a set ofconditions prior to the start of the surgical procedure.
 9. The surgicaldrape system of claim 8, wherein the set of conditions includesconfirming a correct surgical site, confirming a correct surgicalprocedure, confirming a correct patient, or confirming a correct side ofthe patient, or any combination thereof.
 10. A method of using asurgical drape system to prevent a surgical procedure from prematurelybeginning, the method comprising: placing a surgical drape over at leasta portion of a patient, the surgical drape having a fenestrationconfigured to be placed over at least a portion of a surgical site onthe patient, the surgical drape including a removable barrier extendingover at least a portion of the fenestration to thereby prevent the startof the surgical procedure, the barrier overlaying the fenestrationwithout being attached to the surgical drape; verifying a set ofpredetermined conditions prior to removing the barrier; and removing thebarrier prior to beginning the surgical procedure.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the barrier extends across and covers the entirefenestration.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the barrier overlays aportion of the surgical drape thereby covering a perimeter of thefenestration.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the barrier isfabricated from paper, cloth, or woven materials, or any combinationthereof.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the fenestration has afirst area and the barrier has a second area greater than the first areaof the fenestration.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the verifyingthe set of predetermined conditions includes confirming a correctsurgical site, a correct surgical procedure, a correct patient, or acorrect side of the patient, or any combination thereof.
 16. A medicaldrape for use in a medical procedure, the medical drape comprising: abase; a fenestration defined through a portion of the base; and aremovable barrier extending over and obstructing at least a portion ofthe fenestration to thereby prevent commencement of the medicalprocedure, the barrier overlaying the fenestration without beingattached directly to the base of the drape, whereby removing the barrierallows for commencement of the surgical procedure.
 17. The medical drapeof claim 16, wherein the barrier extends across and covers the entirefenestration.
 18. The medical drape of claim 17, wherein the barrieroverlays a portion of the base of the medical drape thereby covering aperimeter of the fenestration.
 19. The medical drape of claim 16,wherein the barrier is fabricated from paper, cloth, or woven materials,or any combination thereof.
 20. The medical drape of claim 16, furthercomprising at least one holder attached to the base of the medicaldrape, and an item held by the holder, the item being associated with apredetermined verification procedure, the item being removable from theat least one holder and configured to be placed in a patient medicalrecord.